General

Silk Road: FBI Shuts Online Drug Marketplace

The FBI has shut down an online black market used to buy drugs and hitmen, and arrested its suspected mastermind.

Ross William Ulbricht, 29, is accused of “controlling and overseeing all aspects” of hidden website Silk Road, as well as plotting to kill another person who was trying to extort him.

Ulbricht, known as Dread Pirate Roberts on the site, is also charged with drug trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering.

Silk Road has been dubbed ‘eBay of the drug trade’

The website, dubbed the eBay of the drug trade, used a privacy-protecting Tor network and Bitcoin digital currency to shield the identities of buyers and sellers around the world.

As they busted the site, authorities seized approximately $3.6m (£2.2m) worth of Bitcoins – the largest-ever seizure of the currency.

FBI agent Christopher Tarbell said Silk Road was used by “several thousand drug dealers” to sell “hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs”.

The website allowed users to anonymously browse through nearly 13,000 listings under categories such as “cannabis”, ”psychedelics” and “stimulants”, “erotica”, “forgeries” and “fireworks” before making purchases with Bitcoins.